L’Or\u00e9al reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter sales on Wednesday, driven by robust demand for haircare products, mascaras and other beauty items, as the world’s largest cosmetics company continued to outperform the broader beauty market. <\/p>\n
The French beauty giant posted sales of \u20ac11.6 billion ($13.2 billion) for the three months ending in June, marking 6.3% like-for-like growth after adjusting for the rollout of its new IT system. The result exceeded analysts’ expectations of 5.7% growth, according to a Visible Alpha consensus, News.Az<\/a> reports, citing Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n The company, whose portfolio includes CeraVe, Maybelline, L’Or\u00e9al Paris and Valentino<\/a> fragrances, said its consumer products division delivered stronger-than-expected performance, helped by rising demand for haircare products in Europe and strong online sales.<\/p>\n Although overall growth eased slightly from 6.7% in the first quarter, L’Or\u00e9al continued to benefit from resilient consumer spending on beauty products despite economic pressures in several key markets.<\/p>\n Chief Executive Nicolas Hieronimus has previously pointed to the so-called “lipstick effect”\u2014the idea that consumers continue buying affordable luxury items such as cosmetics during periods of economic uncertainty\u2014as a factor supporting demand.<\/p>\n Europe, L’Or\u00e9al’s largest market, recorded 6.7% like-for-like sales growth, while North America, the company’s second-largest region, posted 5.9% growth, reflecting continued demand despite ongoing cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>\n Growth in L’Or\u00e9al’s luxury division, which accounts for roughly one-third of group sales, reached 4.7%, below analyst forecasts. However, the company reported double-digit growth in China, offset in part by continued weakness in the country’s travel retail sector, which has weighed on luxury beauty sales.<\/p>\n The results follow strong momentum across the beauty industry. Consumer goods giant Unilever also reported solid quarterly growth in its beauty and wellbeing business earlier this week.<\/p>\n L’Or\u00e9al shares have gained around 4% since the start of the year, reflecting investor confidence in the company’s ability to maintain growth across both mass-market and premium beauty segments.<\/p>\n